The recent Barrington Town Council race exposed a flaw in the state’s election system. Election law states that only a candidate who is trailing in a race can request a recount. Most times that approach works fine, but it fell flat in the recent battle for the third and final seat on the Barrington Town Council.

Shortly after Election Day, the Rhode Island Board of Elections’ website showed Jordan Jancosek, a Democrat, trailing Brian Hughes, an Independent, by less than a dozen votes for the third and final seat. In a race that close, Jancosek was wise to file a request for a recount.

However, a week later, after all the overseas and military ballots were counted, Jancosek had edged ahead of Hughes by 11 votes. An official with the Rhode Island Board of Elections reached out to her after the vote count shifted in her favor and asked if she wanted to rescind her request for the recount.

In a great display of sportsmanship, Jancosek called for the recount to proceed: “Because I felt that this needed to be fair for all of the candidates.”

Had she accepted the offer from the Board of Elections, it would have ensured that Hughes would not have been able to request a recount. The seven-day deadline to file had passed. But Hughes pointed out to Elections officials that he had been leading the race until after the deadline, and only the candidate trailing in the race can file a request for a recount.

“It’s a glitch in the system,” Hughes said in a recent interview.

Jancosek agrees. “I hope the Board of Elections takes a hard look at this,” she said.

Kudos to both candidates for handling the challenges thrown at them during the recent recount wrinkle. And bravo to Jancosek for allowing the recount to remain.